Choose the Right Synonym for indigenous

native, indigenous, endemic, aboriginal mean belonging to a locality. native implies birth or origin in a place or region and may suggest compatibility with it.
native tribal customs indigenous applies to that which is not only native but which, as far as can be determined, has never been introduced or brought from elsewhere.
indigenous plants endemic implies being peculiar to a region.
a disease endemic in Africa aboriginal implies having no known others preceding in occupancy of a particular region.
the aboriginal peoples of Australia

Examples of indigenous in a Sentence

Viking invaders quickly subdued the indigenous population, known as the Picts.— Jared M. Diamond, Collapse, 2005Unlike France, Italy relies on dozens of indigenous regional grape varieties for its prodigious range of wines.— Gerald Asher, Gourmet, September 2002Though Gilded Age architecture was not indigenous to America, at least it was borrowed from belle epoque Europe, from which much of America's late-nineteenth-century culture evolved.— Robert D. Kaplan, An Empire Wilderness, 1988
There are several indigenous groups that still live in the area.
the culture of the indigenous people of that country

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'indigenous.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Medical Definition of indigenous

1: having originated in and being produced, growing, or living naturally in a particular region or environment
a disease indigenous to the tropicscolonization by small numbers of indigenous enteric bacteria— C. M. Kunin et al

2: being inborn or innate
a type of behavior that is indigenous to human beings